Religion – Irregular Timeshttp://irregulartimes.com
News Unfit for PrintThu, 17 Aug 2017 10:45:58 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1http://irregulartimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/cropped-irregulartimesclock2-32x32.pngReligion – Irregular Timeshttp://irregulartimes.com
32323324147US Congress Prays For Christian US Reps To Defeat Their Jewish And Muslim Colleagueshttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/29/us-congress-prays-for-christian-us-reps-to-defeat-their-jewish-and-muslim-colleagues/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/29/us-congress-prays-for-christian-us-reps-to-defeat-their-jewish-and-muslim-colleagues/#respondSat, 29 Jul 2017 21:27:05 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52894Yesterday, all the members of the United States House of Representatives were led in a prayer by Scott Poling, the preacher at the Harvest New Beginnings Church in Oswego, Illinois. Poling announced to his god that the Congress would, “especially pray for the many Representatives who are Your true children by faith in Jesus Christ. Grant them Your favor and blessing and raise them up. Give them supernatural strength…”.

Among the U.S. Representatives taking part in the federal government’s religious ritual were Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus. Scott Poling’s act of official government worship was aimed directly against them.

Just to make sure that everyone understood his point, Poling ended his government-sponsored prayer by shouting out “Jesus’ name, the only name by which we have access to Heaven”.

That’s not only a direct violation of the First Amendment’s prohibition of government establishment of religion. It’s also just plain rude.

But then, the majority of American Christians did just vote for the presidential candidate who bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” and appointed a director of communications who screams that his colleagues are “cock-blocking,” boasted that “I’m not trying to suck my own cock,” and said “I want to fucking kill,” before commenting that “I’ve gotta start tweeting some shit.”

Maybe American Christianity is now a religion of the rude.

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/29/us-congress-prays-for-christian-us-reps-to-defeat-their-jewish-and-muslim-colleagues/feed/052894Sam Brownback Has A Long History Of Attacking Freedom Of Religionhttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/28/sam-brownback-has-a-long-history-of-attacking-freedom-of-religion/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/28/sam-brownback-has-a-long-history-of-attacking-freedom-of-religion/#commentsFri, 28 Jul 2017 04:40:21 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52883This week, Donald Trump announced that he is appointing Kansas Governor Sam Brownback to run the federal government’s Office of International Religious Freedom. Brownback is an ironic choice, because for his entire political career, Sam Brownback has used his power as an elected official to promote religious discrimination.

As a United States senator, Sam Brownback He supported legislation designed to interfere with the ability of religious minorities to gain compensation for religious discrimination practiced by local governments. In 2009, he voted in favor of a legislative amendment seeking to help majority religions to use government funds to dominate minority religious groups in school settings. In 2008, Senator Brownback sought to protect the use of government authority to force children across America to swear oaths to his Christian god. In 2006, he passed legislation to assist government-run schools in coercing children into participating in religious rituals. In 2005, Brownback endorsed a proposed law that would have forced businesses to alter their practices to conform to the religious beliefs of employees.

As Governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback attempted an extremist religious takeover of state government, forcing all citizens to provide money to religious organizations. At his inauguration as Governor, Brownback hired a preacher to call upon all citizens of Kansas to become Christians, and to “repent of distancing ourselves from God”. In 2011, he joined Texas Governor Rick Perry in attempting to organize an event at which Christian governors would engage in a huge religious ritual advocating majority Christian belief while excluding other religions and atheists.

Governor Brownback used his power as an elected official to enforce fundamentalist Christian beliefs about reproductive choices onto all citizens, regardless of their individual beliefs about religion. He also signed an executive order attempting to ban marriages in Kansas that did not agree with his personal religious beliefs.

As Governor, Brownback hatched a plan to use state prisons to coerce citizens into religious conversion. He also established legal authority for government-sanctioned religious clubs at government-run universities, and provided special powers for these clubs to discriminate against religious minorities and atheists.

The choice of Sam Brownback as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom is clear evidence that Donald Trump seeks to use the Office of International Religious Freedom to attack religious liberty, rather than to support it.

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/28/sam-brownback-has-a-long-history-of-attacking-freedom-of-religion/feed/352883Increasing Numbers Of Americans Believe The Bible Is Just A Bunch Of Fableshttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/16/increasing-numbers-of-americans-believe-the-bible-is-just-a-bunch-of-fables/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/16/increasing-numbers-of-americans-believe-the-bible-is-just-a-bunch-of-fables/#respondSun, 16 Jul 2017 14:53:56 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52784This week, Luther Strange, a Republican U.S. Senator from Alabama, declared that, “President Trump is the greatest thing that’s happened to this country,” and said, “I consider it a biblical miracle that he’s there.”

It was a strange statement on many levels, given that Donald Trump is found nowhere in the Bible. How could Donald Trump’s presidency be a biblical miracle, when his presidency is taking place almost two thousand years after the last parts of the Bible were written?

Christians who seek to make their ancient holy book the standard for politics in our own time are used to putting their religious doctrine through a series of weird contortions in order to justify their ideological assertions. They’ll claim that the Bible contains advice about fiscal policy, and health care reform, and how to properly administer public lands. In the 2016 presidential election, the majority of American Christians voted for Donald Trump, and many of those who did agreed with the sentiment of Luther Strange, claiming that their god wanted Trump to win.

Mo Brooks, the other U.S. Senator from Alabama, said this week that he will read the Bible on the floor of the United States Senate until legislation passes to fund Donald Trump’s giant wall along the border with Mexico (the wall that Trump promised Mexico would pay for). Given the Bible-based antics of politicians like Strange and Brooks, one might think that the Christian Bible is at the core of the American identity.

A recent survey suggests the opposite: That the Bible is becoming increasingly marginal to Americans’ lives. For the 16th time since 1976, Gallup asked a sample of Americans to choose which of three statements best represents their belief about the Bible – the term used to describe the collection of holy texts that provides the foundation of Christian religious beliefs. The three statements were:

“The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word.”

“The Bible is the inspired word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally.”

“The Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man.”

This year, only 24 percent of American respondents agreed with the idea that the Bible is literally true. 26 percent said that the Bible is a collection of fables. Back in 1976, 38 percent of respondents agreed with Biblical literalism, and only 13 percent said that the Bible is a collection of fables.

The survey also suggests that the decline in literalist belief in the Christian Bible is likely to continue in the future. The survey found decline in belief among all ages. Among young Americans, however, the increase in rejection of the idea that the Bible is sacred truth is taking place even faster than among older Americans. In 1976, 32 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 believed that the words of the Christian Bible are literally true. Today, only 12 percent of Americans in this age group have that belief.

So, the survey shows both that Americans have changed their minds and decided to reject Biblical literalism as they have aged AND that fewer young Americans are growing up believing in that the Bible is anything other than a bunch of fables.

In the years to come, the tactic of waving the Bible from politicians like Luther Strange and Mo Brooks will become less likely to bring respect, and more likely to provoke laughter.

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/16/increasing-numbers-of-americans-believe-the-bible-is-just-a-bunch-of-fables/feed/052784Satan Pierces The Agenda Of Congress With Dartshttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/07/satan-pierces-the-agenda-of-congress-with-darts/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/07/satan-pierces-the-agenda-of-congress-with-darts/#respondFri, 07 Jul 2017 13:22:43 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52798Congress has a lot of work to do. Republicans haven’t been able to advance coherent health care reform legislation. There’s no progress on the federal government budget. Congress has done nothing to deal with the worsening crisis of climate change, and has not taken action to deal with the economic inequality that pervades American life.

So, when the House of Representatives met yesterday, there were many substantial pieces of legislation that could have been placed on the agenda.

Instead, the House of Representatives invited a preacher from San Diego to perform a religious ritual, and give a speech about Satan playing darts. Skyline Church preacher Dan C. Cummings stood before the elected representatives of districts across the United States, and told them, “O, may we live above that world where Satan’s darts forever hurl and in one voice make a joyful sound, the song of saints on higher, holy ground.”

Satan playing darts? Is this really the best material that the Republican Congress can come up with?

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/07/satan-pierces-the-agenda-of-congress-with-darts/feed/052798Donald Trump Becomes The Voice Of Christian Theocracyhttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/03/donald-trump-becomes-the-voice-of-christian-theocracy/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/03/donald-trump-becomes-the-voice-of-christian-theocracy/#respondMon, 03 Jul 2017 18:39:33 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52774If you want to understand the role of Christianity in the United States, look at Donald Trump.

The majority of non-Christian Americans voted against Donald Trump in 2016. The majority of Christian Americans voted for Donald Trump.

American Christians decided that Donald Trump would be the best person to become President of the United States.

Yes, under Donald Trump, it’s official federal government policy that Christianity is more powerful than government.

As President of the United States, Donald Trump is now pressuring Americans to observe Christian holy days. “I remind you,” he warned on Saturday, “that we’re going to start staying ‘Merry Christmas’ again!”

Also over the weekend, Donald Trump announced that he favors a plan to remove access to medical care for tens of millions of Americans without providing any alternative to them. Then, Trump released a video showing himself tackling and repeatedly punching a journalist.

Throughout it all, Donald Trump’s Christian political base is sticking with him. Way to show your moral leadership, American Christians.

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/07/03/donald-trump-becomes-the-voice-of-christian-theocracy/feed/052774International Yoga Dayhttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/06/21/international-yoga-day/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/06/21/international-yoga-day/#respondThu, 22 Jun 2017 01:54:20 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52726Today is International Yoga Day, as formally endorsed by the United Nations, because Om. I can think of no better way to observe International Yoga Day than to observe the full range of silly associated with what people call Yoga – both in favor of it and against it.

On the one hand, there’s the Catholic priest who accuses members of his church of being possessed by demons because they once visited a yoga studio, telling them, “There is a spirit afflicting you that has some kind of affiliation with eastern spirituality, some kind of curse associated with yoga.” (See YOGA: A CAUTIONARY TALE, from the Catholic News Agency, April 25, 2017)

On the other hand, Yoga For The New World cites the 1953 prophecy by George Hunt Williamson declaring that, “the fact that certain cosmic rays bombard the Earth from outside our own Solar System tends to support the idea that our entire Solar System is entering a new possibility area of the Universe. Every phase of Earth life will be greatly influenced–Economics, Religion, Education, Politics, Science, Social life, Medicine, Eating habits, etc. Virtually everything will change, and for the better!” I’m not sure how Donald Trump, income inequality and the surge in Type 2 diabetes fit with Williamson’s prediction.

William Broad says, “There are hundreds and thousands of things that are labeled yoga.”

Rachel Markowitz says that drinking coffee is yoga. “Once the brewing is complete, I find a cozy spot to sip and contemplate the beverage’s unique flavor, texture, warmth and aftertaste. I sometimes draw, write or read during this time, but often sit without thoughts, occasionally noticing how the qualities of the cup change as the coffee slowly cools.”

Self-appointed guru Abraham Hicks promises that his form of Yoga will bring practitioners money, after it makes them happy. “As you allow the Law-based words of our meditation recording to play gently in the background of your mind, your resistance to Well-Being will become less, while your allowing of Well-Being will become more. You have only to remember that, at first, the evidence of your improved state of allowing comes in the form of good-feeling emotions, not in the form of stuff. But eventually the money and the new stuff will come, too,” he says.

YogaLife cites a “geomancer” to explain that “grids in the earth cross like the meridians in the body, creating power spots we might call earth chakras.”

On June 28, the Harpoon Brewery in Boston will “celebrate our yoga glow in the Beer Hall with pints and pretzels!”

The Aetherius Society brags that its “yoga master” founder George King used yoga to communicate with “gods from space”. The Society explains that, “If a genuine Master of yoga, like Dr. King, were to project from the physical body to a higher plane of Venus, he would find a highly advanced spiritual civilization, existing at a frequency of vibration higher than that with which we are familiar on Earth.”

Yoga By Robin sells YOGAMIX, explaining, “YOGAMIX builds strength and increases flexibility in your body. There is a mental awakening with this type of yoga.” In contradiction, Sri Chinmoy claims that, “In India it is not like that. In India fortunately when we say Bhakti Yoga it means all devotion, devotion, devotion. We don’t care for any kind of mental illumination or mental awakening.”

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/06/21/international-yoga-day/feed/052726Republican Senators Introduce Constitutional Amendment To Establish A Nationalist Religionhttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/06/15/republican-senators-introduce-constitutional-amendment-to-establish-a-nationalist-religion/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/06/15/republican-senators-introduce-constitutional-amendment-to-establish-a-nationalist-religion/#commentsFri, 16 Jun 2017 03:12:18 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52694Yesterday, Steve Daines moved to take the United States one step closer to nationalist totalitarianism.

Daines, a Republican U.S. Senator from Montana, introduced a resolution, S.J. Res 46, that would establish a government-sponsored nationalist religion and forbid anyone in the United States from violating the new religion’s sharia.

The new nationalist religion proposed by Daines would center around the worship of a holy relic. Copies of this sacred relic, a multicolored piece of cloth, would be displayed outside of all U.S. government offices, and would be protected by a collection of religious rituals for the cloth’s treatment. Under the constitutional amendment proposed by Senator Daines, anyone transgressing these rituals’ taboos for the treatment of the cloth relic would be held guilty of a crime, and would be subjected to legal punishments for refusing to practice the nationalist religion.

A nonprofit group from Montana that supports the creation of the nationalist cloth cult has claimed that human lives have been sacrificed for the sake of the relic, and argues that these human sacrifices will have been in vain if the government doesn’t gain the power to force everyone to take part in the group’s strange cloth worship.

In a press release, Senator Daines acknowledged that his constitutional amendment is intended to limit “Constitutional free speech”. The Daines amendment would also undermine the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion and protection from government establishment of religion. In a country where no one is allowed to violate the sharia law of a government-established religion, the government becomes a theocracy, and democracy dies.

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/06/15/republican-senators-introduce-constitutional-amendment-to-establish-a-nationalist-religion/feed/152694Preacher From Illinois Resolves The Debate Over Whether African-Americans Still Face Racismhttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/30/preacher-from-illinois-resolves-the-debate-over-whether-african-americans-still-face-racism/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/30/preacher-from-illinois-resolves-the-debate-over-whether-african-americans-still-face-racism/#respondWed, 31 May 2017 03:30:09 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52615It’s become a favorite argument of right wing activists: Racism doesn’t exist any more. They claim that African-Americans don’t face any prejudice any more, but are just trying to get special unfair advantages over everybody else by claiming to be victims of racism.

The trouble with these arguments is that they are almost always accompanied by extreme racist comments. Right wingers just can’t seem to help themselves, given the opportunity to say something cruel.

So it is with Keith Gomez of the Northwest Bible Baptist Church in Elgin, Illinois. Gomez was giving a sermon when he declared how lucky African-Americans are that their ancestors were brought out of Africa to the United States where “we’re civilized and we’re advanced”. Gomez said that, “If it wasn’t for slavery, those folks would still be in Africa with a bone in their nose fighting lions, and if you don’t like that, you can lump it any way you want. That ain’t a prejudice. That is factual and historical.”

Apparently, Gomez believes that it’s the hallmark of a civilized and advanced nation to tell people that they’re lucky their ancestors were forced into generations of slavery.

Gomez isn’t alone. Right now, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is led by Ben Carson, a right wing activist who believes that slaves came to America hoping that their descendants would seek prosperity in this “land of dreams and opportunity”.

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/30/preacher-from-illinois-resolves-the-debate-over-whether-african-americans-still-face-racism/feed/052615The Rainbow Connectionhttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/29/the-rainbow-connection/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/29/the-rainbow-connection/#respondMon, 29 May 2017 18:05:00 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52609Anonymous sources within Apple, Amazon, and Fiona’s Crystals independently verify that tech conferences and New Age psychic fairs are in talks over the terms of a merger of their events calendars. “It’s creating negative energy for us to duplicate each other’s efforts,” explained Jeff Bezos.

“We all believe in the power of connections,” Fiona Zuckerberg told reporters, on condition of not remaining anonymous. “Neuroscience proves that chanting ‘There’s an app for that’ creates physical changes in the brain.”

In response to these revelations, the Federal Trade Commission issued a statement explaining that it has no idea which office to refer this proposal to.

]]>http://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/29/the-rainbow-connection/feed/052609Airport Security 50 Years From Nowhttp://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/29/airport-security-50-years-from-now/
http://irregulartimes.com/2017/05/29/airport-security-50-years-from-now/#respondMon, 29 May 2017 17:38:26 +0000http://irregulartimes.com/?p=52606Half a century from now, airport security will be formally recognized as the religious ritual that it is. People will go to security chapels in their own neighborhoods to remove their shoes, Empty their bags, and walk through magical gates, relinquishing all large tonsils of liquid, in order to propitiate the demons of terror and summon the supernatural power of security in what they call The Homeland, a mythical land that is simultaneously all around us and impossible to see. The gravestones of soldiers will be decorated with icons of security scanners. On television, the Box News Network will feature analyst-priests who deliver sermons on the immorality of schools that don’t practice lockdowns anymore.
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